Agency of Federal Writers' Project, later named Writers' Program. The Federal Writers' Project in Washington State was an agency funded by the Works Progress Administration, one of many nationwide programs which employed local writers to research various aspects of state history and contemporary life. Initially, the project was funded and supervised by the state office of the WPA, but this sponsorship terminated August 31, 1939 because the field work and research was completed. The Washington State Planning council was persuaded to sponsor the project through the completion of the Guide and the project became known as the "Washington Writers' Project." The Planning Council withdrew its sponsorship January 31, 1940 and the Federal Writers' Project closed its offices in Washington State in February 1941 with the Guide unpublished and without sponsorship. In February 1941, the Washington State Historical Society agreed to sponsor the completion and publication of the Guide. Only a small portion of the material amassed by the project was published. The rest was moved to the WPA Zone Office in Ballard March 7, 1940. Presumably, those papers comprise this accession, which seems to have been received in September 1954.
The original arrangement of the records was retained with minor changes. The files were kept in order by county, but the larger folders were refined further in order to bring out common topics such as "Women in State Development" and "Pioneer Tales." Most of the data was based on newspapers, histories and other published materials. Sources of manuscripts are not documented, but others clearly contain original material.
Typescripts of pioneer interviews with a focus on women in Washington state development, county histories including cities, towns, villages, rivers and streams in Washington State, folklore, correspondence.
The Washington State Historical Society has additional records of the Federal Writers Project which presumably include the Guide manuscripts. A related accession is U.S. Works Progress Administration from which these records were separated and which may include administrative records of the Federal Writers Project.
Open to all users.
Public Records (use unrestricted when access is granted)
Gift of WPA, 9/1/1954.
Pioneer Interviews; Cities, Towns, and Villages
Pioneer Interviews; Cities, Towns, and Villages; Assignment SA-1-37 Geography, Agriculture; Assignment SA-2-37 Minerals; The Rock Island Dam
Pioneer Interviews; Women in State Development; Rivers and Streams
"Its People" (including Pioneer Interviews); Women in State Development; Place Names
"History of Cowlitz County" by Ruth Huntington; Pioneer History (including interviews); Folklore; Industry; Cities, Towns, and Villages; Forest, Rivers, and Streams
History; Pioneer Interviews; Women in State Development
Pioneer Interviews
Pioneer Interviews
History; Pioneer Interviews; Women in State Development; Folklore, Legends, Writings; Cities, Towns, and Villages; Aberdeen and Hoquiam
Pioneer Interviews; Women in State Development
Women in State Development; Folklore; Place Names - Creeks
The Bagley Collection
Pioneer Interviews; Women in State Development; Cities, Towns, and Villages; Bainbridge Island; Bremerton
Pioneer Interviews; Cities, Towns, and Villages
Pioneer Interviews; Cities, Towns, and Villages; Rivers and Streams
History; History - Newspapers, Resources, Schools; Pioneer Interviews and Diaries; Women in State Development; Cities, Towns, and Villages; Chehalis; Centralia
Pioneers; Women in State Development; Cities, Towns, and Villages; Rivers and Streams; Lakes, Rivers, and Mountains
History; "Pioneer Tales"; Women in State Development; Folklore; Cities, Towns, and Villages
Pioneer Interviews; Cities, Towns, and Villages
History; History by Robert Pearsell; "Historic Fort Nisqually"; "History of Fort Nisqually" by Carl Dupuis; Pioneer Women; Women in State Development; Folktales; Cities, Towns, and Villages; Rivers, Streams, and Lakes; Tours; Mount Rainier National Park; Tacoma - General Description; "Tacoma" by Robert Pearsell; Tacoma - History, Women in State Development, Folklore and Customs, Points of Interest, Tours, Churches and Schools, Industry and Labor, Transportation, Sports and Recreation, Miscellaneous
Women in State Development
Women in State Development
Pioneer Interviews; Women in State Development; Folklore; Bonneville Dam; Cities, Towns, and Villages; Rivers, Lakes, and Streams
History; Pioneer Interviews; Women in State Development; Folklore; Place Names; Cities, Towns, and Villages - Arlington and Darrington; Edmonds; Everett - General Description, History, "History of the County Seat" by Edward Friberg, Folklore, "Report on WPA Program 1938-1939" including photographs
History; Indians; Pioneers; Newspapers; Churches and Schools; "Geography of District"; Coulee Dam; Cities, Towns, and Villages A-H; Cities, Towns, and Villages I-V; Spokane - General Description, History, Pioneers, Pioneer Interviews, Points of Interest, Tours, Culture, Recreation, Education
History by W. Parks Wanans. (1904)
History; Pioneers
Cities, Towns, and Villages; Women in State Development; Walla Walla
Bellingham
Pullman